Email Blog Updates to WordPress with Postie

Exploring Email-to-Blog Updates with the Postie WordPress Extension

I recently discussed creating blog posts utilizing voice recognition technology through Google Voice. As a dedicated blogger, I find the concept of publishing content simply by speaking into a phone to be remarkably innovative.

However, the accuracy of Google Voice’s transcription isn’t yet flawless. Occasional misinterpretations can render the text unsuitable for direct publication. Therefore, until improvements are made, utilizing email for blog updates remains a viable alternative.

During the setup of the voice-to-blog system described previously, the WordPress plugin Postie was introduced. While the core email-to-blog functionality was sufficient for that initial setup, Postie offers a wealth of additional features. These features enable the inclusion of photos and media, facilitating the creation of more engaging and comprehensive posts directly from email.

Installation of Postie on Your WordPress Blog

Experienced WordPress users are generally familiar with the process of installing and uninstalling plugins. If you require assistance, download the zipped file from the Postie website, extract it to a folder on your computer, and then upload it to your blog’s plugins directory using an FTP client.

Upon completion, the plugin will appear as Postie and Cronless Postie within the “Plugins” section of your WordPress dashboard.

Activate both Postie and Cronless Postie. If you have experience configuring cron jobs for Linux or another operating system, you can utilize only the Postie plugin. However, for most users, Cronless Postie provides a convenient built-in scheduler to periodically check your email account for new messages.

Understanding How Postie Functions

A key advantage of Postie over many other email-to-blog tools is its flexibility regarding email accounts. You can utilize any personal email address, rather than being restricted to a pre-defined address as is often the case with platforms like Blogger. After enabling Postie, navigate to “Settings” and then “Postie” in your WordPress control panel to access the Mailserver settings.

Here, you can configure your POP3 settings for the email account of your choice. Creating a dedicated Gmail account specifically for receiving blog updates is recommended. While any email address can be used, a dedicated account simplifies management.

The “User” settings define which senders are authorized to post to your blog via email. Avoid enabling “allow anyone” unless you are confident that the dedicated email account will not receive unwanted spam or unsolicited messages. Instead, explicitly add Authorized Addresses to the list.

Postie verifies the sender of each incoming email against this list. Only emails from authorized senders will be converted into blog posts. You can also automatically authorize users based on their roles within your WordPress blog.

Once Postie identifies an email from an authorized sender, you can configure how it’s transformed into a blog post under the “Message” configuration. Specify the default category for posts and define a default title to use if the email lacks a subject line.

Further options control message processing, including permitted HTML code. For example, enabling the subject line allows users to define the title using "#your title here#" within the email body, which is particularly useful for SMS-to-email posts.

A particularly useful feature is the Tag or Message Start and End setting. This allows you to define delimiters that indicate the beginning and end of the post content, ensuring that only the enclosed text is published, ignoring any extraneous text.

Unlike many other email-to-blog services, Postie provides extensive customization options for handling attached images. Previously, I encountered issues where images were simply centered at the top of posts. Postie allows you to specify image alignment, such as thumbnail left, and further customize the image template using HTML.

Similar customization options are available for video and audio files. Tailor how these files are embedded into your blog based on their respective file types.

For other attached file types, you can define their appearance within your blog, selecting the icon set color and size, and adding any desired default text.

In conclusion, Postie elevates the simple act of emailing blog updates into a powerful tool for creating fully-featured blog entries. Even when away from a computer, you can compose an email on your mobile device, attach an image, and rely on Postie’s customization settings to ensure your blog post maintains a consistent appearance.

Do you utilize Postie for publishing blog entries? What is your preferred email-to-blog WordPress plugin? Share your experiences in the comments below.